| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Cristian Molinaro | ||
| Date of birth | 30 July 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Vallo della Lucania, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position | Left back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | VfB Stuttgart | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Salernitana | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2002–2005 | Salernitana | 77 | (1) |
| 2005–2007 | Siena | 56 | (1) |
| 2005–2010 | Juventus | 65 | (0) |
| 2010– | VfB Stuttgart | 55 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2004–2005 | Italy U-21 Serie B[1][2] | 2 | (0) |
| 2010– | Italy | 2 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 03:48, 24 November 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Cristian Molinaro (born 30 July 1983) is an Italian footballer who plays as a left-back for Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart.[3]
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Cristian Molinaro was born in Vallo della Lucania, on 30 July 1983 to Emilio, who is a high school P.E. teacher, and Franca, who is an elementary school teacher and raised in Moio della Civitella, near Salerno. Cristian has two brothers, both of them older than he is: Bartolomeo, a chartered accountant, and Angelo, a humanities teacher. Cristian has a surveyor diploma and naturally his favourite subjects at school were humanities. Molinaro began playing football at age five in the Gelbison team. He always played as a left winger in those days. When he joined Salernitana's youth academy he was moved to left-back.
Molinaro started his career at Salernitana of Serie B.
When Salernitana went bankrupt and started again in Serie C1 in 2005, he was signed by Juventus F.C. on free transfer, who immediately loaned him to A.C. Siena, along with half of the player's rights, for a nominal transfer fees of €500.
In June 2007, Juventus which won the Serie B championship bought him back for €2.5M and he signed a contract until 2012, as the team lacked a left-back in the previous season after Giorgio Chiellini moved to central back.
During the 2007–08 Serie A season, his first season at Juventus, Molinaro started in 30 league matches and was a first team regular. He scored one goal. On 28 November 2008, Molinaro extended his deal with Juventus until 2013. After the deal, Molinaro stated, "I am really happy. It means I have earned it. I have been able to fulfil many dreams here at Juventus like playing in the Champions League for example."
In the 2008–09 season, he continued to play as a regular.
With the arrival of Italy international Fabio Grosso and Uruguayan Martín Cáceres in the summer, Molinaro signed a loan deal with VfB Stuttgart on 5 January 2010 which initially saw him stay at the club until the end of the 2009–10 season.[4] On 1 June 2010, VfB Stuttgart took advantage of a contract option and signed Molinaro permanently until June 2014.[5] Juventus announced that on 14 June they received €3.9M transfer fees and the deal was completed.[6]
Molinaro received his first international call-up on 6 August 2010 under new head coach Cesare Prandelli.[7] He made his debut on 10 August 2010, starting in the match against Côte d'Ivoire.
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